Althouse: "A gastric band is not the answer to curing an overweight child."

May 9, 2013

"A gastric band is not the answer to curing an overweight child."

"I just wish it was out of me... I’ve been through hell because of it. I think every doctor should refuse to do them on anyone under 18."

23 comments:

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: I wonder how many people know we have to thank, in part, meddling (is there any other kind?) Liberal icon George McGovern, for the American obesity epidemic?; 5/9/13, 10:17 AM
MadisonMan said...: I wonder if the kids wanted the surgery for themselves or if the kids wanted the surgery because their parents wanted them to have the surgery.

I agree that kids should not have this surgery. So much can change as you go from 13 to 21.; 5/9/13, 10:20 AM
Shanna said...: What a sad story.

I have known a number of kids, boys in particular, who were chubby at around that age and they hit puberty/growthspurts/peer pressure and grew into normal weight adults fairly easily. IT seems terrible to mess with something so fundamental at that age.

Many adults have had serious issues with these types of surgeries.; 5/9/13, 10:21 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I'd have first recommended removing all the kid's teeth and then wiring his jaws shut if that didn't work.; 5/9/13, 10:33 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Mitchell the Bat said...
I'd have first recommended removing all the kid's teeth and then wiring his jaws shut if that didn't work.

Or, he could just cut way down on carbohydrates.

That's partly why lap band works. It necessarily restricts carbs, along with everything else. But it's only necessary to restrict carbs.

Too bad more folks don't know that.; 5/9/13, 10:36 AM
carrie said...: But the most important thing is that young kids look as attractive as possible otherwise no one will want to have sex with them. Who cares about whether something is really in the best interest of a child when it comes to sex? Bullying has become the go to justification for everything involving kids. Kids get bullied for everything--being fat, being ugly, having funny teeth, being too tall, being too thin, etc. Bullying should be stopped, but efforts to stop bullying should be focused on the bullier and the remedy should not be for the victim to have invasive surgery to stop the bullying.; 5/9/13, 10:43 AM
Methadras said...: I was going to say the pity party should stop at your mouth. If you want to be a giant sack of lard, then don't eat so much. Burn more calories than you intake. Problem solved.; 5/9/13, 11:11 AM
Methadras said...: I was going to say the pity party should stop at your mouth. If you want to be a giant sack of lard, then don't eat so much. Burn more calories than you intake. Problem solved.; 5/9/13, 11:11 AM
edutcher said...: You see this all the time - the parents have no self-control and pass it on to the kids.

A boy that age with moobs is child abuse.; 5/9/13, 11:11 AM
Peter said...: "Requiring a dress size 30 and with a BMI of 72.4, she had to wear an oxygen mask when lying down, as her weight crushed her internal organs."

This 16yo apparently weighted close to 500 pounds.

It's hard to believe someone would let themselves get like this, or not do something about it if it happened. But if they're unable to, perhaps desperate situations call for desperate remedies.

BTW, one way not to eat junk is not to keep it in the house- if you have to go out to get it, at least you'll think before doing so. Although that would be hard to do if it's not your house.; 5/9/13, 11:23 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: The mother of the child subject of this article weighed 42 stone.

That's 42x14lb=588lbs.

She was the heaviest woman in the UK. She died at age 41.

So... when she saw her son heading toward being bed-bound she took action.

I can't blame her much for this. Getting that fat isn't just behavior. There's something else going on, and she didn't want her son to have the same fate she did.

If this kid really, really wants to be fat again he will manage to raise the 4000 quid. It's not that much if he makes it a priority. However, he might want to consider his long term survival before he simply removes it.; 5/9/13, 11:44 AM
traditionalguy said...: Salvation of fat folks by restricting Fat in their diets and eating massive carbs was the huge propaganda success of the "educated folks" for 20 years... until the first Deniers dared to mention that is was 180 degrees wrong.

Brainwashing is so easy. Just act educated and claim "science"and a pied piper will lead most folks into a clear stupidity.; 5/9/13, 11:50 AM
Michael K said...: " IT seems terrible to mess with something so fundamental at that age.

Many adults have had serious issues with these types of surgeries."

How about 450 pounds at age 15 ? I have done gastric bypass on kids as young as 12 but only at the request of pediatric endocrinologists. Diabetes also causes a lot of pain for teenagers.

Lapband was not available when I was doing the surgery. One problem, as with anything that is "easy," is that it will be abused by reducing the indications. It should NOT be used for "chubby" kids.

I have a cousin who is thin but his wife had gastric stapling before they were married and lost 100 pounds. After she got pregnant, she gained it back. The boy, when he was at my mother's funeral in 2001, looked like a fire plug with a tiny head on top. He weighed 450. He has had the surgery but is still at a very serious weight and is now 27.

Some of the discomfort in caused by the patient eating too fast. The whole idea is to force a diet. Patients used to eat fast enough to rupture the gastric stapling when I was doing them.

The original ileal bypass 50 years ago caused diarrhea and was easier to live with but caused some patients liver failure. A patient with an ileal bypass who never got the complication will never give it up. I know a number of them. Gastric bypass or stapling (the failure rate of stapling alone was too high) is less acceptable but is safer.; 5/9/13, 11:50 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Can kids get this surgery done without parental consent?; 5/9/13, 12:10 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Just let the kids follow their passions.; 5/9/13, 12:41 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I believe fat is the ultimate freedom.; 5/9/13, 12:42 PM
n.n said...: In the age where people dream of material, physical, and ego instant (or immediate) gratification, yes, it is the answer. Besides, it's more politically, economically, and socially profitable to treat symptoms, especially when ignoring the causes will exacerbate the long-term consequences.; 5/9/13, 1:11 PM
Aaron said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/9/13, 2:03 PM
Methadras said...: AJ Lynch said...

Can kids get this surgery done without parental consent?

In the UK anything is possible. It's not them paying for it. I mean, look at their free wheeling orthodontia industry. Job security for life.; 5/9/13, 2:15 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: There was a tread here about an old Jewish tradition or teaching... it might have been from a Rabi in particular and not reprehensive of the religion as a whole nor in part or whatever..

Anyways.. the Rabi recommended that you eat only up to three quarters of a full stomach so that... ok... my memory fails me I'm going to look it up... I'll be back in a minute...

found it..

The Talmud teaches that people should eat enough to fill a third of their stomachs, drink enough to fill another third, and leave a third empty...

Ok, it has almost nothing to do with this tread but after so much work I thought I leave it up anyways...

I'm going to go up out of my basement right now and check the fridge.; 5/9/13, 2:32 PM
Anonymous said...: I once knew a lad, a yob, really, 14 hands high an' 20 stone if he wasn't larger.

Headmaster Sproul used to beat 'im mercilessly into a pile of pudding' every fortnight until he sobbed off to sleep.

Me and the other lads would leave 'im there as went out to to hawk the Daily Mail, sweep chimneys and scouse around in the alleys as boot blacks.

-Signed poor lil' Nigel Cumberbun; 5/9/13, 2:55 PM
Kelly said...: The blonde who now claims to be anorexic really wasn't that overweight and neither was the boy. It wouldn't have taken that much to lose weight without the band.

Surely it would have been more cost effective to set them up with a nutritionist and exercise instructor?; 5/9/13, 7:53 PM
Unknown said...: All overweight and struggling to find a diet that worked, they underwent gastric band hypnosis app and have reaped the rewards. Their weight-loss programme began last summer and started with a read of famous gastric band instruction booklet.; 5/20/13, 11:40 AM